Marilyn: of the Fantastics
by Carolyne Smythe
Summary: This epic strives to introduce a new perspective on the World's Greatest heroes! Note: This is obviously not complete! ;)
1. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Introducti...

Marilyn: of the Fantastics  
by   
Carolyne Smythe  
  
Introduction  
  
Ohhhh, I'm on my way for so many days  
Trying to leave the dreams of yesterday far behind  
For now, I will accept my friends' advice  
  
I travel under the brightest light  
And dwell within the jungles urban  
But everywhere, that dark wind is howling  
Where you do not know where he is lurking.  
  
From - "Traveler" by Amon Duul II (Some of the lyrics were altered by me. But overall, the song is property of this awesome band.)  
  



	2. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter On...

Marilyn: of the Fantastics  
by   
Carolyne Smythe  
  
  
I. A Light In the Dark  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
It was 11:30, December 31st, 2081 in Manhattan. Most of the New York natives were not only getting ready to hail the New Year in the streets below, but were preparing to pay homage to the great team named the Fantastic Five that once lived on the New York soil. As part of their celebrations, the New Yorkers would stare at the skyscraper that the cosmic ray powered quintet once called home, the Baxter Building for five minutes in silence. Each minute would represent each member. The much-admired heroes had saved all of Manhattan and perhaps most of universe when they fought their final battle against Dr. Doom. Not only did they save the world, but also the Fantastic Five had given their lives in doing so. When the five minutes were up, the New Yorkers got ready to witness the great ball being lowered in Times Square that would signal the start of the New Year. As all eyes watched the world-famous event, not one would be aware of an even greater event happening in the very place that all of New York City had their eyes upon a few moments ago.  
  
At approximately midnight, January 1, 2082, a great flash of light erupted from the Baxter Building. Not a soul in New York, or the world was aware of the event due to New Year's celebrations, and possibly a mysterious force that kept all on Earth from being aware of it. Inside the Baxter Building, a presence began to stir, a presence almost unlike any it had seen almost half a century ago, but somewhat similar.  
  
"Friends, you better have kept your promise about being nearby and protecting me during this tour of duty I have to undertake."  
  
This presence was once the girl known to all as Miss Fantastic a.k.a. Marilyn Richards. Now in what was once her beloved home, poor Marilyn felt at most confused and helpless as she mumbled to herself.  
  
"This place seems so familiar, but why?"  
  
She looked around at the cobweb-covered furnishings and adornments in what was once her and her friends' living room. Marilyn began to dust off a photo on a table nearby with her hand. A sensation suddenly overtook the young girl, who began to see images flash before her eyes. All of the images were from her past. Marilyn's reaction to this was speechlessness. She witnessed before her an argument between two men; her father and the man who was his best friend, Benjamin, or Ben, as he preferred for his closest friends to call him. Marilyn realized this was what led to the rocket flight that gave her and her friends their powers. She also remembered what the voice that greeted her and her friends in the heavens said about that flight...  
  
"There was a reason for the lives you led being so abnormal my friends. The assistant to the evil one, or Lucifer, or as you more commonly know him, Mephisto was becoming very powerful at the very moment you planned for your flight into the stars. Who was this assistant? None other than the supremely evil Lord Doom, or the dark Fantastic, Victor."  
  
The voice, which came from a bright light that was before the Fantastic Five in the darkness spoke to them about who they really were. It told how they were representatives of the elements of Earth, time and space, and other various things, or Fantastics. The entity also spoke of how it was their sole purpose to protect the Earth, along with the universe against the power of Doom.   
  
"I apologize for having all of you, especially you Benjamin take on the physical soldier forms so unexpectedly. But, with Lord Doom gaining more knowledge, and more power by the minute, I had no other choice."  
  
Those words echoed in Marilyn's head as she took her finger off of the photograph, and looked at it. It was a picture of her and her friends in their previous lives before their receiving the entity's "gift". Deciding to experiment with this ability to touch objects, and flash back to the past, Marilyn touched another photo. The sensation that followed was extremely horrifying. Marilyn heard screams, saw skies filled with dark clouds, and flashes of light green lightning. She also saw the one whom her and her friends had tried and barely succeeded in killing, Dr. Doom. Doom was laughing, and yelled out the following phrase...  
  
"THE TIME IS ALMOST HERE! THE TIME THAT I SHALL BE YOUR LORD! NOT EVEN THAT INSOLENT REED RICHARDS AND HIS LITTLE SHIP OF FOOLS CANNOT STOP ME! WITH THESE WORDS, EARTH, THE VERY KEY TO THE UNIVERSE SHALL BE MINE! DARKNESS RISETH!!!!"  
  
Marilyn was thankful she did not have to see the rest, for she knew how it all ended. But, she found it hard to pull her hand away from the portrait. It was almost as if some force wanted her hand stuck there.  
  
"Darn it! Let go of me! I don't want to see THIS!" She screamed as her hand finally pulled away.  
  
She breathed very hard as she heard footsteps come up the door. Marilyn hid as a middle-aged man peered in through a door in the living room.  
  
"I could have sworn I heard a little girl's voice. Is there anyone in here?" The man asked quietly. When there was no response, he said.  
  
"Oh well..."  
  
And then, he closed the door. Marilyn let out a sigh, for she immediately recognized him from the memory quickly building in her head about her previous life.  
  
"That man, he must be Mr. Collins' son or grandson. Whichever one he is, if he is anything like his father or grandfather, he'll be one heck of a landlord to deal with."  
  
With that said, Marilyn peacefully got to settle down into what would be her home for quite some time.  



	3. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Tw...

Chapter Two  
  
Nobody has ever described the Underworld as better as Dante in his Divine Comedy. It was separated into three main sections; Inferno, a colossal furnace where evil souls that did harm resided. This part was watched over by Mephisto most from the other two parts, Limbo and Purgatory. The one who beheld Limbo and Purgatory was Mephisto's faithful apprentice, Lord Doom, otherwise known as the dark Fantastic, Victor. In his cavern chamber he sat, laughing long and hard at the suffering of the poor souls being tortured in purgatory, or at the loneliness of those trapped in Limbo. Despite these activities taking up Victor's time, and all of the souls he witnessed, he could never get five particular souls off of his mind.  
  
"Curse that Reed Richards, his daughter, and those pathetic friends of theirs." He boomed out in such a loud tone, a stalactite fell, and barely missed the evil one.  
  
"If only there was some way I could get to them, drag their miserable, worthless selves down here to my lair, and give them the best fit discipline I ever could, unlike that buffoon, Mephisto." Victor thought out loud.  
  
He had plans to eventually take over the Underworld, and through that realm, Earth and the universe. But, Victor was well aware that he had a long way to go to achieve that goal. Despite that, Victor then had a considerable number of followers. One of who happened to fly into his lair in the form of a raven that moment while Victor paced up and down the floor.  
  
"Greetings sire." The bird turned into a man said.  
  
"Ah Boris, tis good to see you, my faithful one. How was your sightseeing trip in that lovely New York City?" Victor questioned.  
  
"Well sire, it was the usual sights I saw. The mortals consuming more than their fill of the demon drink, shooting others for money to buy the demon drink, destroying objects and people under the influence of the demon drink. And all of these activities executed for the mere purpose of celebrating the coming of a new lunar year. Yes, it was the usual events. And, you should have been there with me Master." Responded Boris.  
  
"I abhor the fact I had to miss that this lunar year, but you know how that pathetic Mephisto is about my attending events on Earth like that." Victor sighed.  
  
"Oh yes! Sire, as glorious as what I told you about sounded, none of them were as glorious as something else I saw." Boris piped up.  
  
"What is it? Tell me, NOW!" Victor hollered.  
  
"Well sire, I saw that place you have had your eyes on for the past few years, the Baxter Building has a new tenant."  
  
"So?! It is more than likely someone who is aiming to buy the cursed place." Victor replied, almost angrily.  
  
"At midnight? You know how the mortals on Earth operate with their days and nights! This new tenant is not mortal." Boris said.  
  
"You mean... it is one of THEM?!" Victor chimed.  
  
"Yes sire, it is one of them who you hate. Take a look on one of your monitors right now. I believe you will be delighted as to which one of them it is."  
  
Victor did as his faithful servant, both in his previous life and right then, suggested. He turned to one of five enchanted monitors in his chamber, and peered right into it. What was before his eyes made him fill up with both contentment and hate.  
  
"This is indeed an excellent find Boris! That Richards is such a fool! Sending his most beloved daughter onto the Earthly plane! Doesn't he REALIZE how VULNERABLE that MAKES HER? I LOVE IT! Good job Boris!" Doom rejoiced.  
  
"I do only the best for you sire." Boris said in response to his master's strong compliment.  
  
And there, Victor celebrated as wildly as the New Yorkers did over the New Year in Times Square, except it was over what he felt would be quite an easy stone to step on in his path to universal conquest.   



	4. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Th...

Chapter Three  
  
By 6:00 in the morning, Marilyn had her new home as clean as it could ever be. She had cleared out all of the cobwebs and dust thanks to a friend of hers who had arrived earlier, Susan, the Fantastic of air and wind. By calling upon a few breezes of westerly wind, Susan was able to help the youngest of her kind have a much neater, and newer looking home.  
  
"Susan, could you please tell me once again, why I was chosen to undertake a solo mission? Why not you, Benjamin, or Johnny?" Marilyn asked the only feminine one of the Fantastics beside herself.  
  
"Marilyn, I really could not tell you why. All I can tell you is that for some reason, your father, and that entity felt it was time for you to undertake this, well, "mission". I understand how you feel. But, you have no reason to worry. Like your father said, we will be there for you when needed, and there appears to no threat of Victor entering this plane anytime soon."  
  
Marilyn looked at her friend cladded in a purple dress, with a white sash wrapped around her waist, and ending in a knot at her right side, not knowing how to take what she had just said. Marilyn almost felt compelled to tell Susan of her powerful experience with the photo of them taken right before their last ordeal with Doom. But held back, due to her thinking it felt strong because of her powers to flash back being so new to her.  
  
"I suppose you are right Susan. I do have you and the others to call upon." Marilyn finally responded.  
  
"Then, I shall leave you for now Marilyn. You seem to have rapidly recalled how to get around our former home and haven. I wish you the very best with your stay in this plane. And remember, your father, I, Benjamin, or Johnny will come by to visit you every now and then." Susan said.  
  
"Bye Susan." Marilyn solemnly said.  
  
"Until we meet again Marilyn, may the luck of our kind be with you. Just like your father, I know you can handle this." Susan said, and suddenly disappeared in a flash of purple light.  
  
Marilyn sighed, as she was once again all alone. She saw the sun rising in the east, and felt exhausted. This was due to her representing the night, just like her father, and for some reason, her energy lost its peak when it was daylight, in Heaven and Earth. Marilyn decided for then that her resting-place would be the couch in the living room Susan helped her clean off. And then, she lay down on the piece of furniture, immediately heading into the realm of dreams without a hassle.  
  
Right after Marilyn dosed off, a pair of ravens flew by, and perched on the ledge of the window to the living room of the Baxter Building. There, the birds looked in, at something other than their reflection.  
  
"There she is Master. See, your monitor was not playing tricks on your vision." Boris said telepathically.  
  
"I should have known I could trust you from the beginning. My sincerest apologies, faithful one." Victor replied.  
  
"So what do you plan to do Master?" asked Boris.  
  
"I honestly have no idea at this moment. I want to be able to grab her like this!" Victor said as he flapped his right wing quickly, like he was swiping an object, then continued.  
  
"Then, with her in capacity. I shall either destroy her, or use her as bait to capture Richards and the others. This must be executed pristinely."  
The demonic birds kept staring in at the youngest of the Fantastics slumbering away in her rather graceful sky blue dress and shoes; white hoes and gloves. She appeared to not at all be aware, nor sense their fiendish thoughts and ideas, or so it seemed.  
  
In the realm of dreams, Marilyn was in a snow-covered field, admiring the beauty and tranquility of the season she represented, winter, when suddenly that very tranquility was shattered. The things that shattered the peaceful environment were none other than two ravens, the symbols of darkness and evil. To Marilyn, they were also omens of Victor's awakening and earth-coming. The ravens came towards her, trying to claw at her, and were squawking the most sinister of noises while doing so. While most people would have screamed, fled, or do both actions, Marilyn remained calm, and with a mere thought let a shield of ice surround her. Then, with another thought, was able to escape the nightmare, and return to the Baxter Building and the earthly plane. The moment Marilyn awoke, she saw what she had just escaped from in the Dreamworld staring right at her through the living room window. Looking right at the evil birds in the eyes, Marilyn positioned her right hand as if she was going to pick up a pencil, but in that hand appeared a nicely sized icicle. With a gleam of determination in her eyes, which at that point were glowing a bright blue, Marilyn yelled as she threw the icicle straight towards the ravens.  
  
"URANIAN PRECISION!"  
  
The calling upon her and her father's one of two sacred planets did not help, for instead of hitting the birds like she intended, Marilyn's dart of ice not only just merely scared off the creatures, it shattered the very pane of glass they were perched behind. But, the young Fantastic of ice and water did not care, for she was relieved to be rid of the little black beasts, but not relieved over what they represented.  
  
"If those ravens are any indication like I have learned, Lord Doom's earth-coming is not too far away. But I don't get it. Father said the Dark One would be well sealed after our incredible defeat of him."  
  
Marilyn thought, as she suddenly heard footsteps approach the living room entrance. She hid in the nick of time, as the Baxter Building's landlord entered.  
  
"Darn kids in the streets below and their baseball, I should ban baseball, or ANY GAMES from being played around this building." Mr. Collins proclaimed as he looked over the mess of broken glass while at the same time tried to find a stray baseball. Then continued in bewilderment.  
  
"Well, that's odd. No baseball, but there appears to be some water and bits of ice on the glass. And last I checked, it has not snowed recently. Oh well, whatever caused this, ain't nothing I can do about it now. Might as well get a new pane of glass."  
  
Marilyn remained hidden until the glass was replaced, trying her best not to snicker at Mr. Collins' puzzlement over why the glass and floor underneath was wet with shards of ice. When he was finally done with his work, Mr. Collins left the room as the sun was setting. Marilyn came out from her hiding, and hopefully awaited the arrival of one of her kind as she stared out at the then rising stars and moon.  
  
Two well-dressed men below glanced at the Baxter Building as they spoke to one another.   
  
"That was a close one Master. You and I were very lucky to not get hit by that girl's dart." Boris said.  
  
"I am well aware of that Boris!" Victor belted, then went on with a cruel smile forming on his devilish face.  
  
"I am very willing to bet that urchin was not aware of who we were in the forms we took on. Despite that miniscule fact, she shall still pay for her little action this Earth day. Come along Boris, we better head back to the Underworld before Mephisto senses our absence. There, will be as better place as any, to determine how we should carry out what may possibly be our greatest, and yet most ridiculously simple plan of global, then universal control!"  
  
And with that said, both malicious men left the earthly plane in a puff of choking, dark green and gray smoke.  
  



	5. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Fo...

Chapter Four  
  
"Marilyn, my child, what have I told you about using your ice darts?" The leader and older Fantastic of water and ice, Reed interrogated.  
  
"You said to only use them when there is a clear, unblocked target." Marilyn answered.  
  
"Right, and what you aimed at today was definitely NOT a clear, unblocked target." Reed sternly said, then continued.  
  
"On top of that, those were probably two normal ravens you threw the dart at. They were more than likely looking for a place to nest."  
  
"But Father, these ravens, there was something foreboding about them. A sinister kind of foreboding." Marilyn said.  
  
"Well anyway, as long as you don't pull that little stunt again, just remember always aim at a clear, unblocked target." Reed said and went on.  
  
"Despite you almost harming innocent life, we have at least learned how powerful our ice darts can be. Do you remember how strong that glass in the Baxter Building was supposed to be?" Reed questioned his daughter.  
  
"It is coming back to me. Wasn't that the Indestructo-glass you invented in your previous life?" Marilyn asked in response.  
  
"Exactly Marilyn! Just think, if our ice darts are powerful enough to shatter that, there is no telling what they could be stopped by!" Reed exclaimed as he suddenly heard the screams of a woman being mugged from below the rooftop he and Marilyn were sitting on.  
  
"AHHHHH! LET GO OF ME YOU, YOU, AHHHH!"  
  
The Fantastic dressed in a suit that was a tone higher than Marilyn's sky blue, but somewhat a light blue, with a matching tie, white shirt, and white dress shoes smiled as an idea came to him.  
  
"Ah, let me show you how to properly use an ice dart my child." Reed said.  
  
Reed positioned his hand just as his daughter did earlier when trying to kill the ravens, and an icicle appeared just like before. Gesturing with the dart towards the mugger below, Reed said.  
  
"See the mugger down there Marilyn? He is quite a clear target from here, and there appears to be nothing that can obstruct me from stopping him committing his crime. Uranian precision!"  
  
With that out, Reed threw the icicle towards the mugger's back. It hit precisely in the center, making the mugger yell out in pain, and let his feminine victim get away. As Reed and Marilyn watched the action from the rooftop above, the younger one asked.  
  
"Father, that would not actually kill a man, would it?"  
  
"It depends upon how painful and deadly you want it to be. That particular dart I threw, I wished for it to be painful enough so the woman could escape, but not fatal in any way."  
  
As Reed said that, the mugger began to look at him and his daughter rather menacingly. His eyes began to glow a bright green as he hissed.  
  
"I loooove how you ssssssaid that... You "wisssshed" for it to be painful. Well, in a moment you are going to wisssssh it wasssss more than painful!!"  
  
The "mugger" began to grow wings similar to that of a pterodactyl, and his clothes disintegrated right before Reed and Marilyn's eyes.  
  
"Marilyn, my child, get behind me, NOW!" Reed commanded, and Marilyn did as he said.  
  
"I don't know who or what you are, but whatever kind of creature you may be, mortal or immortal, I shall put you in your rightful place!" Reed proclaimed.  
  
"I don't know who YOU areeee! But, my master sssssaid I wassss to gooooo after the lasssss." The creature rasped.  
  
"Well you are not getting a hold of my lass if I can help it. NEPTUNIAN SUBMERSE!"  
  
With the uttering of those words, Reed transformed from his humanoid form into an equivalent of a tidal wave aimed straight for the Hell-sent creature. The creature, surprised at the sudden move became paralyzed with fear as the wave crashed down upon him. When the demon got over being stunned by the submerge, all he could manage to let out was a  
  
"By the firesssss of Hadesssss, that wasssss COLD!"  
  
And, those would be among the last words he would utter as Marilyn unleashed one of her more powerful attacks.  
  
"I call upon the sacred northern winds to aid me, SNOW DANCER ATTACK!"  
  
From all directions, as a strong northerly wind blew, came the thickest flakes of snow and ice, and all of them covered the evil entity as it hollered its final word.  
  
"NOOOOO! MY MASSSSSTER WILL HAVE MY HEAD FOR THISSSS!"  
  
Within seconds, the demon was gone, along with all signs of there being any sign of snow, ice, or water in the vicinity. Reed and Marilyn were speechless for a few moments, and then Reed finally spoke up.  
  
"My child, apparently you were right about the ravens. My sincerest apologies, for I should trust your sensing abilities more."  
  
"It is called intuition Father. I am quite sure Susan has told you a thing or two about it in our past lives, or currently. But, I accept your apology none-the-less." Marilyn said.  
  
"I shall alert the other three to keep an eye out for Victor as I will Marilyn. This could not have happened at a better time with you just starting to undertake your training for your powers to become more focused and powerful. Not to mention your being alone."  
  
Marilyn began to interrupt Reed with a question, but he continued, as if he could read her mind.  
  
"Your being alone is supposed to strengthen you my child, and help train you for times when we may be captured by the evil Lord, or someone similar in his or her intentions, and you are our only hope."  
  
Due to the seriousness of what Reed was saying, Marilyn held back with her question about why she was to be alone, wanting him to be proud of her, and feel she was braver than she really was presently.  
  
"As much as it pains me, I have to leave you for now my child, and head back to Fantastica to tell the others of the threat of Doom and his henchmen. You should not have reason to fear since the sun is rising, and if I recall correctly, all creatures from the Underworld can be immediately eliminated by sunlight. Until we meet again, my beloved child, farewell."  
  
With that said, Reed kissed his daughter on the forehead, and like Susan, disappeared in a flash of what was not purple, but blue light. Marilyn knew her father meant well, and wanted to think that everything he said was legitimate, but she knew it was not.  
  
"I failed to tell Father this, but those ravens who were spying in on me were out in the brightest daylight..."  
  
That thought, along with many others lingered in Marilyn's mind as she tried to venture off to her place of solitude in the Dreamworld, but failed in doing so due to so many of those thoughts being rather disturbing.  
  



	6. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Fi...

Chapter Five  
  
"There is someone to see you Master." Boris calmly said as he opened the door to Victor's chamber.  
  
"Good, very good. Come in Slazinger." Victor said.  
  
A very elegantly, yet poorly attired man entered the lair of Victor. One could tell from his entrance that he did not wish to be there at all.  
  
"And, has my faithful royal huntsman brought back what would be the greatest kill you have ever caught?" Victor professed, rather pompously.  
  
"Um, um, um..." Slazinger repeated fearfully, until Boris poked him in the back with a red hot poker Victor had provided him with for such incidents as this one.  
  
"Ow!! N..n..no sire!"  
  
"What?! YOU, once the GREATEST HUNTER in ALL OF LATVERIA, get a chance at doing what you LOVE MOST, HUNTING, and FAIL in EXECUTING what WAS the FINEST of THIS, WHICH WAS what you NEVER DID in YOUR PREVIOUS LIFE! LOOK INTO MY EYES NOW SLAZINGER! LOOK NOW!!!!  
  
Slazinger tried to resist Victor's venomous stare, and for a minute, it seemed that Boris was on his side.  
  
"Sire, I do not think he would have anything to do with that girl like you would."  
  
"SILENCE BORIS! Now, YOU SLAZINGER, LOOK into MY EYES!"  
  
As Victor hollered this, he grabbed Slazinger by the neck, and forced him to look into his then pupil-less, green glowing eyes. Victor witnessed Slazinger walking upon Earth in the form of a typical Manhattan mugger. Next, came Slazinger mugging a woman.  
  
"Beautifully done Slazinger, but what about..."  
  
Slazinger suddenly interrupted Victor.  
  
"We are coming to her, or should I say, THEM Sire."  
  
Victor then witnessed an icicle going through Slazinger's back. Then, he saw Slazinger transform into his demonic self, along with Reed and Marilyn on the top of the Baxter Building.  
  
"WHAT? RICHARDS WAS THERE?!?!" Victor retorted.  
  
What was then before Victor's eyes made him even more irate, for he was viewing Slazinger's quick, and quite wet and cold defeat by the two heavensent Fantastics. The dark Fantastic was not at all delighted with this vision, as he threw Slazinger away from him, and into the thick brimstone wall of his chamber.  
  
"Well, it was at least relieving to know, AND see that you were not lying Slazinger. Yet, what displeases me is that you FAILED in GETTING the KILL I so desired! Boris, cart this rather pathetic one of my former subjects off to PURGATORY! Because of your miserable actions, you can bid farewell to the peacefulness of Limbo!" pronounced Victor.  
  
"NOOOO! GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE SIRE. I PROMISE I WILL NOT FAIL YOU AGAIN!" Slazinger cried as Boris and an immense demon picked him up, and took him away from Victor's lair to Purgatory.  
  
"It is so hard to find good help." Victor sighed, then yelled.  
  
"NEXT!"  
  
  
Fantastica was a very old fashioned, yet very utopian place of sorts. There was only one building in this land where time stopped, but was always night in the north, sunrise in the east, daytime in the south, and sunset in the west. It was a structure similar to that of an ancient temple. But inside, it was as modern as the Fantastics' old home in their previous lives. There was luxurious furniture, all kinds of electronics, and modern conveniences were at the Fantastics' command. One convenience that was not modern, but Susan was making good use of while sitting outside on the steps of her home was the ability to wish upon any sort of reading material, and have it appear right there for you. She was perusing through an Earth woman's magazine as she heard the calling of her name.  
  
"Susan! Susan!"  
  
Susan looked up to see Reed running towards her.  
  
"Reed! What is it? What is wrong?" Susan asked.  
  
"Susan, it is Marilyn, the poor child, she is..." Reed paused due to exhaustion, and trying to catch his breath.  
  
"Oh Reed, hurry, tell me what it is!" Susan pleaded, as suddenly, a colossal rumble came out from the building her and Reed were standing in front of.  
  
"Oh dear..." Reed mumbled.  
  
"It must be Benjamin and Johnny. I swear, ever since Benjamin conjured up that television, there has been nothing but trouble between him and Johnny." Susan said.  
  
"I know. I never heard such ridiculous arguments, even during our past lives." Reed responded.  
  
Inside the white marble structure, Benjamin and Johnny carried on like children in a quibble that got started by a basketball game that was taking place on Earth, and on the television.  
  
"At least FOUR of US have had tha decency ta LOOK NICE unlike you with that darn red baseball cap, red jacket, and red jeans." Belted out Benjamin.  
  
"Well, at least I don't look tacky wearing a golden orange suit like some big ape I KNOW!" retorted Johnny."  
  
Reed and Susan walked into the room after Johnny said what he said. With a voice of authority, Reed let out a...  
  
"QUIET!"  
  
With that out, Benjamin and Johnny took down the fingers they were pointing at one another, and said in unison.  
  
"Welcome back Reed!"  
  
Reed somewhat rolled his eyes at them, and said.  
  
"You cannot fool me into thinking that what I heard coming out of this place when I arrived was not you two cutting up again. We will talk about that nonsense later. What I have to tell all of you right now is far more important than a petty argument!"  
  
Reed told the other three Fantastics before him about he and Marilyn's encounter with Slazinger, and Marilyn's vision of and actually seeing the ravens. When he was done, the responses were varied.  
  
"Reed, just because you had an encounter with a demon, and Marilyn saw ravens in a dream and in real life by coincidence does not mean Doom is on the loose!" Johnny said in a voice of disbelief.  
  
"As hard as it may be to believe, I'm kinda in agreement with tha kid here." Benjamin spoke.  
  
"Well, I believe Reed. For some reason, it does not surprise me that you would not agree, as immature as you two have proven yourselves to be lately." Susan said.  
  
"I would like to say that after speaking with my child, that I have begun to feel vibrations of an evil beginning to stir. Since Victor is strangely one of our kind, it more than likely is coming from him."  
  
After saying that, Reed got a unanimous response.  
  
"Well, now that you have mentioned it, I have felt weird vibes." Johnny reluctantly said.  
  
"Me too." Benjamin replied.  
  
"I felt strong sensations too when I was helping Marilyn clean the living room. It has to be Victor causing these feelings for us to sense them." Susan said.  
  
"So just think, Marilyn may have be the very first of us to sense Victor's coming the way she has acted so fearful recently about her mission and all." Reed voiced.  
  
"If that is the case, aren't you going to pull her out of the Earth plane?" Johnny asked.  
  
"Not yet. Marilyn shows promise of her powers reaching their strongest potential. When her powers touch that point, she will be as, or possibly even more powerful than I. If she proves to not hold her own at that point, that is when one of us will go fetch for her." Answered Reed.  
  
And at that point, nobody knew what to say due to everyone feeling the strongest of concern for the youngest of their kind, and wondering if this really was the wisest of decisions Reed made.  
  



	7. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Si...

Chapter Six  
  
As the sun set in Manhattan, the youngest Fantastic had just started getting to work on what was quite a dreadful task in the kitchen, cleaning out the many leftovers that had deteriorated with age in the refrigerator. Marilyn was well aware that did not have to eat, nor drink in her current form to stay alive. But her philosophy was along the lines of...  
  
"What would stop me from doing so?"  
  
Marilyn also decided to take up time doing the job so she could get her mind of the previous day's happenings. Even though it was disgusting, the rotten food brought back many memories to Marilyn. She sighed.  
  
"Here is that birthday cake from that party we held to celebrate Father's final patented invention and birthday."  
  
After looking at it for a moment, Marilyn threw the half-molded cake into the trashcan next to her, and went back to exploring the old icebox. She came across what appeared to be an ancient opened can of Spam. Marilyn found its odors repulsive, but could not help the memory that came to her as she tossed the can into the trashcan.  
  
"I don't know why, but Benjamin sure loved this substance..."  
  
Marilyn turned around to retrieve more perished foodstuffs from the refrigerator, when suddenly; she heard a stirring take place in the wastebasket. The stirring then became an oozing. Marilyn feared what was coming, for she knew of how if Victor was at his peak of arrival on the Earth plane, he could come in any form, anywhere. The oozing got louder as it got closer to the opening of the trashcan. All of a sudden, the nastiest and slimiest beast Marilyn had ever laid her eyes upon in her eternal life made his entrance from the garbage. She could not help but notice the horrible smell that protruded from it, like fifty year old Spam.  
  
"Why, aren't you adorable! You are so adorable, I could just eat you up!"  
  
The nauseating form hissed. Marilyn wanted to scream, but did not for she knew it would increase the creature's sensing of her apprehension. The demon began to crawl out of where it made its entrance, leaving a trail of slime like a slug. Seeing this reminded Marilyn of a film she saw in her previous life.  
  
" This demon, he is like that life-form in the only horror movie Father was willing to take me to, the Blob. If he is anything like that, he should absolutely hate the COLD!"  
  
A smile came to Marilyn's face as she looked at the slimy creature in the eyes, and yelled.  
  
"URANIAN DEEP FREEZE!"  
  
A coating of ice formed underneath from where her hands were touching the floor, and coated the entire kitchen in a transparent, yet chilling layer. When the process was over, Marilyn expected to see the beast vanquished, but instead saw it grinning, and then laughing. The youngest Fantastic, both shocked and angered at what was before her, blurted out.  
  
"What?! But, you, you were supposed to be frozen! Or at least sent back to the Underworld!"  
  
This outburst made the demon continue even further with his peals of amused laughter. Marilyn saw how each laugh seemed to make the creature grow larger. The evil being was covering half of the kitchen with its muculent body as it spoke.  
  
"My master told me not to expose any of my powers to you and your kind. But I cannot help myself seeing how pathetic you truly are as he said."  
  
He chuckled as he continued.  
  
"I could read what you were thinking within. I will never forget that movie like you! For that was one of the very few films my master would allow to be shown in the old country he reigned over."  
  
The creature sighed.  
  
"Gee, I have forgotten what a wonderful place Latveria was when I was living. Maybe I could work out a deal with my master over taking a vacation as my reward for capturing you."  
  
Marilyn could not help but feel hypnotized by how the demon talked. Despite his hideous appearance, he had a very jolly demeanor, and it was almost like he did not deserve to have resided in the Underworld. But all of a sudden, Marilyn's senses came back to her for she realized she had been under the beast's spell too long. His almost liquid yet solid tail had wrapped its slimy self around her legs, and was lifting her near the ceiling of the kitchen. The dreadful realization was accompanied by a familiar, warm voice of caution in her head, her father's.  
  
"My child, when you are observing your enemy, or surroundings, you should not take too much stock of what is around you, or too much time in doing so. For it may be too late if you are not too careful."  
  
Marilyn remembered being rather surprised at her father saying there was such a thing as being too observant. But, that saying of his really clicked into place in that very situation she was in.  
  
"I should have listened to AND understood Father more. Now I realize the price of those precious words he said to me. The price now my being Purina Slug Chow, and on top of that, helping Victor arrive in this plane!"  
  
The creature, which now covered the entire icy kitchen floor, had a menacing grin on his face as he looked at what his master desired with delight knowing he had succeeded. The demon trumpeted in the most jovial of voices.  
  
"I just know you are going to be one FANTASTICALLY DELICIOUS MORSAL!!!!"  
  
All of Marilyn could do was close her eyes, for she thought her fate was sealed. With an ounce of desperation, Marilyn said under her breath so the almost humanoid slug could not hear her.  
  
"Friends, have you totally forsaken me?"  
  
Closer and closer he brought the young one to his mouth, laughing and carrying on.  
  
"It is a shame that I could not prepare a quick recipe for you and your kind. Something to serve the Underworld with. Now, why couldn't I think of THAT before I came here to undertake this mission?!"  
  
Marilyn grimaced at the beast's words as she was brought closer to his mouth. It was at this point she began to cry, hoping the salt in her tears would affect the demon, since he was like a slug. It was a silent crying, but the creature could sense Marilyn's sorrow, and he relished the moment even more due to it.  
  
"I have always liked a little salt in my food."  
  
Marilyn was prepared to be eaten when she was only an inch away from the creature's mouth. Her eyes were closed, and she was ready to say good-bye to all she knew on the Earthly and Heavenly planes. She could hear nothing but the creature's convivial laughter as she thought.  
  
"What a way to go. Like that man, Jonah, and his being swallowed by the whale."  
  
The creature began to devour the youngest Fantastic.  
  
Though her eyes were closed, Marilyn saw the darkness light up before her lids, and felt a great heat surround her. This heat came from a presence different from that of the evil one who had Marilyn held hostage before his gaping mouth. Marilyn opened her eyes to see the red cladded one of her kind, Johnny standing before her. Without saying a word, Johnny brought back his hand, as if he was going to throw a baseball, but instead threw a baseball-sized fireball at his enemy's tail. The creature let out a yelp of pain as he lost his grip on Marilyn and his tail along with the rear part surrounding it disintegrated into ashes. Marilyn landed on the place that was once taken up by the rear part of the beast's mass.  
  
"He shoots, he scores!" Johnny bellowed as the demon looked at him with not a festive demeanor, but an irate one.  
  
"Just so you'll know, you upstart, I have my own weapons too."  
  
As if he knew what was coming, Johnny transformed into a blaze of fire, and burned his way through the creature's seemingly infinite hide to the entrance of the kitchen right as it vomited onto the spot Johnny stood. Marilyn screamed to her youthful friend as he metamorphosed back into his humanoid form.  
  
"Finish him off before he grows his burned off tail and flesh back!"  
  
Johnny looked at his surrounded friend with a gleam in his eyes, and then into the demonic slug's eyes as he hollered.  
  
"MARTIAN FIRE STORM!"  
  
Waves of flames appeared out of nowhere from the ceiling, and rained down upon the slimy Hell-sent mass. The creature could do nothing but cry, then gurgle in pain as the fire rendered it from a slug into a harmless mass of black ashes. Amazingly, the fire destroyed what was going to eat Marilyn, but did not burn any of the kitchen. Marilyn was overall relieved, but also rather irritated with Johnny's belated appearance.  
  
"DO YOU REALIZE HOW CLOSE I CAME TO BEING THAT DISGUSTING GLUTTON OF A DEMON'S MIDNIGHT SNACK?!"  
  
She raged as she flew right up to Johnny, and demonstrated right in his face exactly how close she came to being dinner for the just vanquished creature. Johnny gently pushed her away, and replied to Marilyn's tirade of a compliment.  
  
"Man, even in this life, you still have your unique way of complimenting me."  
  
Marilyn looked at her friend for a moment with anger in her eyes, but then backed off.  
  
"I apologize for my bursting out like that. But, I am sure you would have felt like that too after going through what I went through."  
  
There was silence between the two young Fantastics for a moment. Then, Johnny spoke up.  
  
"Man, that was quite some demon. He made that demon Reed told us about seem like nothing!"  
  
"You don't have to tell me. I just pray they do not get any worst." Marilyn replied in a rather relieved yet solemn tone, then continued.  
  
"Can you believe that demon emerged from an ancient can of Spam I threw away? I actually do not know if that is where he came from. But man, he sure smelled like it."  
  
"Well, there is something I can get on Benjamin about! I swear, I'll never forget how much I got on him in my last life about eating that crud. But now that it was almost the cause of your being captured, well he better listen to me very well about it."   
  
For the rest of that night, the two youngest of the Fantastics carried on. While doing so, they remained alert, and watched out for others like the glutton Johnny had defeated earlier that night.  
  



	8. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Se...

Chapter Seven  
  
"Here you go Sire, a hot bowl of Blood Soup that I believe is cooked better than that head cook in our previous lives could ever fix when it came to everything." Boris commented, as he brought the bowl of the red-hot boiling substance into Victor's lair, and placed it before the evil Fantastic.  
  
"Ahhhh. Thank you Boris. You know, I sent Welling out onto the Earth plane to capture Richards' daughter."  
  
Boris looked at his master, and gasped.  
  
"You have got to be kidding. You trusted our former head cook, who either always messed up, or ate half or more of our meals before serving them to us! I hate to say it Master, but I already think you have let this goal of capturing the youngest Fantastic get to your head. Should I seek Hauptmann, and ask him to take a look at you?"  
  
Victor looked at his most trustworthy servant with a look of bother, and said.  
  
"Boris, there are times where I really do appreciate your unique sense of humor. But now, is not one of those times. You should consider yourself very lucky that you are more than a mere servant to me; you are a friend and confidant. If it were not for that, you would experience extreme consequences for the words you have just said."  
  
The dark Fantastic slurped up a spoonful of his soup, as he continued.  
  
"Besides, despite Welling's actions in his former life, he passed my test for the capture of Marilyn with flying colors."  
  
Suddenly, a loud sniffing sounded from the entrance to Victor's chamber, and in bolted a very husky, sloppily dressed demonic humanoid, Welling, former cook for Victor and his servants in their previous lives. He licked his lips as he stared at the bowl of Blood Soup before Victor, and said.  
  
"Oh Master, you do not realize how hungry that makes me! Can I just have one slurp?"  
  
Welling crawled towards Victor's bowl of soup, ready to get that one slurp. As he pursed his lips, and began to sip, Victor brought down his mighty fist upon the table, and hit so hard, that the bowl of soup levitated into the air, and landed along with spilling its contents upon Welling's head. Welling looked up at his master with apallment, and moaned.  
  
"Now why did you do that? All I wanted was one slurp!"  
  
"You know very good and well why I did that, you CURSED GLUTTON! You would NOT BE HUNGRY if you DID WHAT I ASKED OF YOU!"  
  
Victor let out with rage. He went on.  
  
"Now, you better not try to lie to me, for you told me your plan of capture, via SWALLOWING HER! If you HAD DONE as YOU PROMISED, you WOULD NOT BE HUNGRY RIGHT NOW!"  
  
Welling looked at Victor with tears in his eyes.  
  
"But, you know I'm always hungry Master!"  
  
Victor said in response to Welling's pathetic words.  
  
"You are going to need more than compassion from me to be believed Welling. LOOK INTO MY EYES!"  
  
Like a beggar, Welling said quite desperately.  
  
"Will you give me food if I do so?"  
  
Victor looked around as if thinking, then said with a sardonic smile.  
  
"Yes we will."  
  
Nearby, Boris, who usually disagreed with Victor's ways of handling his loyal followers, wholeheartedly agreed with his handling of Welling. After Victor's response to Welling's rather redundant question, Boris gave the evil Fantastic a wink, as Victor did the same towards him. Then, Victor looked into his subject's eyes. What he saw at first before him made him quite delighted.  
  
"I love how you made your entrance. If she was a mere mortal, that urchin would have been taken off guard."  
  
Victor beheld Marilyn's attack not fazing Welling, Welling's capture of Marilyn, and his getting ready to engulf her within his mouth.  
  
"Hmmm... Perhaps I was wrong about you not completing your mission."  
  
"Yes, yes you were! You may stop looking into my eyes!"   
  
But suddenly, as Welling said that, Victor saw a sight he wished he never saw.  
  
"But, what is this? Another pipsqueak DEFEATING YOU?!"  
  
"Y...y...yes Master. It was some being who could control fire at will!" Welling shuddered.  
  
"It must have been that brat, JOHNNY! I swear, can't anyone do ANYTHING RIGHT! Boris! Cart this one off to INFERNO!"  
  
"B...b...but I HATE HEAT!" Welling hollered as Boris and another demon barely picked him up to take him off.  
  
"Inferno? Sire, I thought you abhorred Mephisto." Boris said in reply to Victor's command.  
  
"I do Boris. But think of what I am doing as this, it will keep Mephisto from suspecting my hate for him. Oh, please do not forget Boris; tell Mephisto I requested that NO FOOD be brought to Welling during his tenure in Inferno."  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Welling belted out as he was carried off to Inferno.  
  
"Rather ironic how the very occupation and thing he loves revolves around heat, the very thing he cannot stand." Victor muttered, then yelled.  
  
"NEXT!"  



	9. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Ei...

Chapter Eight  
  
"Well, I got a FULL HOUSE! I WIN!" Benjamin shouted out as he scooped up the nicely sized pile of poker chips before him.  
  
Reed and Susan sighed as they gently put down their playing cards, and beheld their friend's joy over winning that one hand of Poker.  
  
"Are you sure that entity does not mind us playing a gambling game Reed?" Susan asked.  
  
"I'm quite positive that as long as we are not using real money, the entity will not mind. Just think of what we are doing as this, it will keep Benjamin from fighting with Johnny when he returns."  
  
As Reed said those words, Johnny entered the room with a Spam can in his hand.  
  
"Hey guys. Miss me?" He said sarcastically.  
  
"Honestly Johnny, how disgusting! Why did you bring in that piece of garbage?!" Susan exclaimed.  
  
"THIS PIECE OF GARBAGE Susan, was the cause of Marilyn almost being a late dinner for a demon. I swear Reed, if it were not for you and your darned lecture over me and Benjamin's argument, I could have gotten there quicker to save her from suffering like she did."  
  
Benjamin paused in his rejoice over the winnings in front of him, and eyed the garbage Johnny held in his hand. Immediately, Benjamin got up, and bolted for Johnny.  
  
"Wow! Kid, you can save your "I'm sorrys" for later, I'M STARVIN'!"  
  
Suddenly, Benjamin grabbed the old can from Johnny.  
  
"Benjamin, I think you should be aware, WELL AWARE of where that just came from." Johnny let out.  
  
All Susan could do was look at Benjamin with shock and disgust as Reed spoke up.  
  
"Benjamin, for once, listen to the lad."  
  
"Oh c'mon guys, what is so harmful about this can? All of you know how much I love this stuff!"  
  
After Ben said that, his eyes went wide.  
  
"What the? LET GO OF ME! SOMEONE! GET THIS THING OFFA ME!"  
  
The other three Fantastics were fearful for Benjamin, but were not sure what they were fearful of, for they could not see it. After a couple of minutes of struggling, Benjamin threw the can away from him.  
  
"You mean you guys did not see that slime-ball that came out of the can? Almost ate me up!"  
  
"Well, well, well, you just demonstrated why I brought that can here..." Johnny said in response to Ben's reaction.  
  
"Obviously, you know one more thing than we do Johnny. Tell us about it." Reed sternly said.  
  
"It just so happens that what Benjamin saw and experienced, Marilyn had to deal with on the Earth plane too. If any of you are daring, touch the can."  
  
Reed calmly approached Johnny, grasped the can, and closed his eyes. He sat down in a meditative state, not showing one sign of fear. The other three Fantastics watched their leader in silence. After five minutes, Reed opened his eyes, and placed the can on a nearby pedestal. He beckoned the others to be near him, and spoke.  
  
"I cannot quite put my finger on it yet, but there is one quality these demons that have attempted to nab Marilyn both share."  
  
There was no response as Reed closed his eyes again, brooding over the visions he received from the container he had held a moment ago. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers.  
  
"That's it! In their previous lives, those malicious spirits hailed from Latveria, and had some sort of connection with Victor when he was Dr. Doom!"  
  
The three Fantastics were proud as always for their leader and his intelligence, but there was something about what he just said that did not click with the youngest one of the group.  
  
"That's too weird though, if Victor is anything like he was when he lived on Earth, you would like to think he would go after Marilyn himself." Johnny countered.  
  
"But alas Johnny, that was when he was his own boss. Now that he is a resident of the Underworld again, Mephisto has control over him. Unfortunately, there is always a chance that Mephisto will have his back turned, giving Victor a chance to escape. And trust me, Victor will always be searching high and low for that chance. But until he does find it, he will send what he feels are the most worthy servants to achieve what he cannot for now."  
  
"So what you are saying Reed is that Victor could strike anytime, but as long as Mephisto somehow is aware of his presence, and is not distracted, he cannot leave the Underworld?" Susan questioned.  
  
"Precisely." Reed answered back.  
  
"So what are we to do? The girl's in danger either way you cut it." Benjamin said.  
  
"I abhor saying this, but I have no idea. The training Marilyn receives through this is imperative. And besides, despite his banishment, Victor is always threatening to return to the Earthly plane." Reed sighed.  
  
"Well, if you know what is good for your daughter, you can at least order us to keep an eye of some kind on her. And that gives me an idea!" Susan proclaimed as she zipped across to the center of the room where the television stood.  
  
"There are much better uses for this than watching sports on the Earth plane!"  
  
Susan turned the television on, and started playing with the buttons until a familiar image popped up on the screen.  
  
"Alright, I believe this is the channel that our former home's security system worked on, correct?"  
  
Reed paced over to the television, and looked at the monitor. He nodded and replied.  
  
"Susan, this is perfect! Not just in being able to receive that very channel you mentioned, but also to be able to look in through the very camera that is focused on Marilyn right now!"  
  
The image before the four Fantastics was of Marilyn doing her usual daytime slumbering on the couch in the Baxter Building's living room. Reed began to yawn.  
  
"You know, that puts me in the mood to take a nap right now. Benjamin, and Johnny, all of you along with Susan do as she suggested and take your positions in front of the screen. Unless it is an emergency, do not get up until I return from the Dreamworld in a few Earth hours."  
  
Reed exited the building, and went to rest on a cloudbank a few yards away outside.  
  
"Reed never slept like that at all when we were on Earth." Johnny murmured.  
  
"He and Marilyn are literally like two peas in a pod. There is just something about the daytime that makes them want to sleep now." Susan added.  
  
As bored as they were with it at times, the three Fantastics kept at their post in front of the television as their leader requested.  



	10. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Ni...

Chapter Nine  
  
"Sire, why don't you simply go get Marilyn yourself? I'm sure I could hold Mephisto off for the time that you are gone." Boris said as he watched Victor trod back and forth across his chamber.  
  
"That is very kind for you to offer such help Boris, but I doubt even you could hold off the one who men fear as the devil."  
  
Victor strutted over to the enchanted monitor that showed Marilyn sleeping away within her dwellings.  
  
"She is so alone that it seems ridiculously simple. I really should have possession of her right now. Yet, because her friends have happened to be in the right place at the right time, I don't."  
  
Boris snuck out of Victor's lair, sensing an apparent outburst of rage coming. As he did this, he passed by someone on his way into the chamber.  
  
"CURSE THAT MARILYN, I SHALL HAVE HER!" hollered Victor as that someone approached him.  
  
"CURSE THAT MEPHISTO... oh, hello."  
  
"It has been a long time sire... do you recognize me?" The shadowy figure before Victor rasped.  
  
Victor peered at the figure and pondered for a moment.  
  
"I would recognize that anywhere, it is you Hauptmann."  
  
The shadowy figure disintegrated, and there before Victor, stood a frail, elderly man.  
  
"You are still the clever, and most observant person I have ever known Master."  
  
"Well Hauptmann, it's nice to know that you consider me greater than yourself, especially after your attempt in killing me during our previous lives when I take pride in remembering thwarting."  
  
"Ah yes. I will never forget that too, how you tricked me into positioning myself in that device that was to give you the powers of the Silver Surfer."  
  
Victor and Hauptmann chuckled together in unison over this reminiscing for a little while.  
  
"Alright, enough with the chatter. Tell me Hauptmann, why did you dare to enter MY CHAMBER without MY PERMISSION?"  
  
Fearlessly, Hauptmann looked straight into Victor's green glowing pupil-less eyes, and said.  
  
"Well, I heard that you were looking for someone worthy enough to travel to the Earthly plane, and kidnap someone of a Heavenly origin."  
  
Victor was quiet for a time. Then replied.  
  
"Why yes, I was Hauptmann. But I decided to quit in that search for now because my dear advisor and friend, Boris gave me the best of suggestions earlier. Nobody but me can capture the Fantastic, Marilyn. If you do not believe me, which would not surprise me, you can migrate over to Inferno and ask Welling, or do the same with Slazinger in Purgatory."  
  
"Tell me Master, just what precisely makes you think I am not decent enough to go after this girl?"  
  
"Oh I most certainly tell you Hauptmann, even after over fifty years, I do not trust a soul who was daring enough to try to dispose of me in my previous life. Why we both shared a laugh over this time, it was not for the same reasons."  
  
The whole time Victor said that, he had his back turned towards Hauptmann, as if saying.  
  
"Would you just get your old, dirty self out of here?"  
  
Of course, Hauptmann was not appreciative of Victor's attitude over his wanting to aid him in kidnapping Marilyn.  
  
"Well Master, another thing I have noticed that has not changed about you is your cruelty towards your servants, and anyone willing to help you in a cause. I take a hint, I shall leave you alone as you are requesting through your emotions."  
  
Hauptmann exited the lair as Victor witnessed him silently. As soon as he was out, Hauptmann thought to himself.  
  
"Von Doom should know better than to have that monitor on in his layer like he did. From that mere image, I could see and find out where that girl he wants is."  
  
As Hauptmann walked further on, he smiled as an idea came to him.  
  
"What better revenge to get on Von Doom after all I have gone through with him than to get to Marilyn before he does? It will show him that I could definitely do the job much more decently than those numbskulls he made mention of!"  
  
Unaware that Boris was watching, Hauptmann disappeared from the Underworld in a puff of whitish-gray smoke.  
  



	11. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Te...

Chapter Ten  
  
Marilyn had just awakened from her daily traversal through the Dreamworld, and already knew what she was going to do to kill a little time that evening. The minute she got up from the couch in the living room, Marilyn bounded for the laboratories she and her father used to work in during their previous lives. It was one of the many areas of the Baxter Building she had not explored yet, and the more familiar she was getting to be with her former home, Marilyn wanted to see how much the labs had changed. It took her ten minutes of walking through corridor after corridor, but Marilyn finally reached the section that was primarily used for scientific research, inventing, building, and so forth. She definitely recognized the hallway, but there was something about it that frightened her slightly. Except for a dim light here and there, darkness engulfed the hallway and the adjoining rooms. The further Marilyn headed into the corridor, she felt a sticky film begin to cover and hinder her from making any more headway. She immediately realized that sticky film was a combination of cobwebs and fresh spiderwebs. A feeling of embarrassment washed over poor Marilyn, for not only was she afraid of the webbing and the spiders that were possibly nestled within, but an occasional squeak she kept indicated that rats dwelled within what used to be her and her father's workplace. Aware that part of the training she was alone on the Earthly plane for was to get over her fears of objects and creatures that represented Victor, Marilyn did not give another thought to the environment around her, and without hesitance, called upon another one of her spiritual powers.  
  
"URANIAN SHOCK!"  
  
The moment she put her white-gloved hands on the floor, and blue electrical energy emitted from Marilyn, and proceeded to burn all webbing and miniscule beasts from the corridor, but the surrounding rooms too. When her powers were done doing their thing, Marilyn looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief. She had not only eliminated the symbols of the dark Fantastic that were encompassing her, but had cleaned up the results of the labs not being used in decades. The only thing that stood in Marilyn's way was the very substance that made up Victor and his powers, darkness. With less apprehension than she had earlier, Marilyn trotted into the mechanics lab. Her left hand found the light switch, and with a flip of it, the lights came on with an immensely loud "POW!". The noise startled Marilyn, but none-the-less, she ventured further into the colossal room. She began to smile, for the happiest of memories started to flood her soul from the sights she once again saw in that scientifically mechanical playground her and her father once called home. Marilyn ran over to an incredibly large machine her and her father had been working during the fateful final day of their lives.  
  
"To think, if we had physically survived that intense battle with Doom, this could have been completed long ago."  
  
She stroked the lustrous silver hunk of metal, and she murmured onward.  
  
"Perhaps I could complete it myself if I wanted to. But it would not be the same without Father here to aid. And besides, he was the only one I knew who could operate such devices anyway. Gee, that reminds me... do any of the other rendered humans and scientists we assisted still live? People like Tony Stark or his bodyguard, Iron Man? Not to mention Dr. Banner, the Avengers, and the Inhumans..."  
  
Marilyn started to brood over that though she said out loud. Suddenly, something queer caught her eye, the machine she had glancing just a minute ago seemed to have lost its gleam. It looked to be all dull and dingy. Marilyn instantly sensed something was not right. Right then, the sound of screws quickly becoming loose, gears falling off, and other various parts of machinery losing their grip became audible. Marilyn backed away, and watched the machine fall apart, to reveal an interesting looking silhouette had been hiding behind it on the catwalk twenty feet above where Marilyn stood.  
  
"You, precious one, seemed to have forgotten who else could operate such a magnificent piece of mechanics, me and my former master!"  
  
The devilish old man disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke, and reappeared before Marilyn in the same fashion.  
  
"Who are you?" Marilyn barely got out.  
  
"Why I am the former scientist and assistant to Victor Von Doom, better known to you and your kind as Doctor Doom, but also Victor, Hauptmann."  
  
Marilyn vaguely recalled how Victor talked of a scientist who had attempted to kill him during a bout her father had with him in their past life. The memories of Victor as Dr. Doom harshly comparing this man before her to her father were becoming more and more vivid.  
  
"If you are who I think you are, there is no way in Heaven, on Earth, or in Hell that the one I know named Victor would send you here if he still has the hatred for you I know he has or had."  
  
"Correction young one. HE did not send me, I SENT MYSELF!"  
  
As he said "MYSELF!", Hauptmann transformed into a burst of dark energy. By ducking, Marilyn barely avoided this surprise attack. She looked up from the floor to find Hauptmann returning to humanoid form on the catwalk.  
  
"Somehow I will mobilize and drag your pathetic self to the Underworld, where I'll use you as evidence when confronting Mephisto to prove that Victor is not worthy of the position he is in currently down there!"  
  
With that said, Hauptmann thrusted his right arm out, and fired a bolt of dark energy towards where Marilyn stood. She moved away in time for the bolt to hit the floor, and leave a smoldering crater in its place. Marilyn knew she needed a plan to fight back this astoundingly powerful fiend. But a question remained in her mind, how?  
  
"Victor never realized it, but he made me one of the most powerful souls in the Underworld when he killed me in that cosmic power absorption device I foolishly help him invent!"  
  
Hoping to stall Hauptmann, Marilyn asked him the following while still considering her options of attack and evasion.  
  
"Does anybody besides you in the Underworld know about these incredible powers you own?"  
  
"Yes three people, ME, MYSELF, AND I FOOLISH ONE!" Hauptmann cackled as he shot another burst of energy that dismantled a light fixture above Marilyn.  
  
Marilyn knew she was in hot water, though she had not tried her powers out on him yet. But she knew the properties of dark energy, and what Hauptmann possessed was right on up there on the power scale with Victor's energy. To her distress, Marilyn also knew that ice and darkness went hand in hand, and her powers to control ice, snow, and cold temperatures would do no good against what Hauptmann was using. Marilyn wanted to cry, but did not because of her not wanting her and her friends' reputation tarnished in front of Victor's former servant. The tears that were welling up within the youngest Fantastic were tears saying that she wanted her father proud, but could not achieve that in the situation she was trapped in at the moment.  
  
"Master! You are not going to like this, but..."  
  
"I know Boris, behold the screen." Victor interrupted his most loyal servant.  
  
"The skunk! Look at how Hauptmann has Marilyn cornered, and at his mercy too! It is almost like he believes he is you Master!" Boris exclaimed.  
  
"It appears to be going beyond his believing he is me. He has talked of plans to use Marilyn as a way of overthrowing me."  
  
"How did he get to have powers like yours?"  
  
"Simple, via the very power cosmic that killed him. I recall it being at a degree above the power cosmic the Creator used to bestow upon the cursed Fantastics their physical forms' powers. Thanks to this very sight we are witnessing, I have learned that the power cosmic not only affects physical forms, but it apparently also affects spiritual forms at higher levels. So, not only did I kill him, but I practically made a duplicate of myself in powers."  
  
Boris got ready to say something, but Victor continued.  
  
"Of course, what you just heard me descant does not matter right now. What matters is that the time has finally come to show Hauptmann who is the true spirit of darkness. Tell me Boris, what is Mephisto up to currently?"  
  
"Well Master, he is during his routine meandering through Inferno. If he is enjoying himself, he may be away for a while."  
  
"Well, for a while or not, you now have the duty to stand guard in front of this chamber until I return. If Mephisto happens to come by, tell him I am checking on the souls in Limbo and Purgatory. He is always falling for that one." Victor said with a grin.  
  
"Very well Master, good luck." Boris wished.  
  
The green cladded Fantastic said no more as smoke built up around him, and before Boris knew it, Victor was no longer occupying the lair he called home.  



	12. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter El...

Chapter Eleven  
  
In just five minutes, the space Marilyn once remembered as the mechanics lab was a war-zone thanks to the seemingly uncontrollable power of Hauptmann. Marilyn had finally got over the fit of distress she was going through, and focused on finding a way to vanquish the demonic elderly scientist. Afterall, as her father had once said, where there is a will, there is a way. Suddenly, the idea came to her!  
  
"How could I be so stupid?! Of course ice and water cannot cancel out darkness, but LIGHT can!"  
  
The second that thought came to her, her eyes darted around the room, searching for Hauptmann, and found him not still on the catwalk getting ready to eliminate another ceiling light fixture. Without a pause, Marilyn looked at Hauptmann straight in the eyes, and screamed.  
  
"URANIAN SHOCK!"  
  
The resulting impulse of energy from her eyes was enough to just blind Hauptmann for a minute, but that was ample time for Marilyn, who traveled from the floor to the catwalk in a mere second and flash of blue light.  
  
"Ugh, you could have permanently disabled my vision if I was in physical form. Oh the advantages of being PURE SPIRITUAL MATTER!" shouted Hauptmann as he let the dark energy build up in his right hand for what he hoped would be a final blow to the being before him.  
  
"What do you think I am made of?" Marilyn cattily interrogated, as she gingerly grasped Hauptmann's right hand, and whispered...  
  
"uranian shock!"  
  
Her grasp was as gentle as a lamb, but the effect of Marilyn's action towards Hauptmann was not! Blue radiation painfully flowed through Hauptmann as he tried to let go of Marilyn's hand, but discovered he could not!  
  
"LET GO OF ME URCHIN!" Hauptmann hollered in the most malicious, yet desperate tone.  
  
"You really think I am going to let you go, you deceitful creep? Well, for once, you are actually right!" Marilyn said in her own special sarcastic way. And, she proceeded to pick Hauptmann up as easily as if he were two pound weigh or even lighter, and toss him over the catwalk's railing towards the rubble that used to be the last apparatus Marilyn and her father had built in their past lives. Hauptmann landed with a stinging crash. In a flash of blue light, Marilyn transported herself back to the floor below, and prepared to finish off Hauptmann, when a familiar voice embraced her ears.  
  
"You did well child, but why don't you let me finish this worthless soul off?"  
  
She turned to see what appeared to be a silhouette of her father on the catwalk. In a voice of welcome, Marilyn said.  
  
"Father! Is that you?"  
  
To her surprise, the shadowy figure responded.  
  
"Well, not exactly..."  
  
And, out from the shadows came a person who looked very much like Reed, but was in every way a dark version of him. He was attired in clothes very much like the ones Reed wore, except the colors were a dark green and black. Also, there was not look of being clean and well groomed, instead, his face and hands were rather sooty, and his hair was oily and not neatly combed. While the hair at Reed's temples was a silverish white, the hair on this man's temples was a dull, dark gray. There before Marilyn stood the serpent-hearted embodiment of evil, the Fantastic of darkness.  
  
"VICTOR!" She blurted out in shock.  
  
"I had you fooled, didn't I? Admit it, you thought I was your father, the one you love the most. The one who if it were not for him, you would have never eternally existed."  
  
"NEVER! Shut up Victor!" Marilyn retorted.  
  
"Oooo, you should never say never, urchin. You shall find out in a few moments how much that will cost you. But first, let me take care of the first thing upon my agenda that I came here to take care of."  
  
Marilyn knew there was nothing she could do to stop Victor's venomous talk, but she knew that she could get a headstart and come up with some kind of a master plan to keep Victor at bay until one or more of her friends arrived. Victor took no hesitance in killing off the already immobile Hauptmann. As he executed this move, Marilyn ran out of the mechanics lab, and down the hallway. Victor did not even need to see what happened to know Marilyn did not inhabit that room anymore. He laughed, and uttered to himself.  
  
"Hauptmann was just for practice. Now, it is time for some real sport!"  
  
And with those words out, Victor concentrated on the floor below him, and without even stirring the air around him, was able to merge into that floor, which took on a hue of darkness.  
  
Marilyn finally stopped in the living room, and took a seat, knowing she could not relax for even one minute, but had to sit down to be able to think how she was going to handle the very one of her kind that was one with the forces of darkness. Suddenly, the television in the living room turned on. Marilyn quickly got up to make sure she did not sit on the remote control by accident, but she saw that the remote control sat upon the top of the television. The static on the television faded away to reveal an image Marilyn did not want to see that moment. Victor's menacing mug stared out at her, laughing like the devil he was.  
  
"I am sure that your father has said more than once how bad television is for you. Well I am here to prove..."  
  
Before Victor could say anymore, Marilyn disappeared in a flash of blue light from living room, and reappeared on the rooftop of the Baxter Building. To her dismay, there was no starry sky, or view of the city, but instead total darkness. A voice from above echoed.  
  
"Isn't this view of the dark just wonderful?"  
  
"CUT IT OUT VICTOR!" Marilyn yelled, as she escaped the rooftop, and went to the watch room. This was a big mistake, for right when she entered; Marilyn was greeted by hundreds of screens featuring Victor along with a thousand speakers amplifying his slimy voice.  
  
"Foolish child, when are you going to learn that cannot escape the most supreme of your kind?"  
  
Marilyn could not just give up, there had to be a room that Victor was not within, there just had to be! In a fit of desperation, Marilyn left the watch room in a blue light, and made her entrance into the projection room. Of course, Victor was on the colossal screen in front of her and the hundred or so chairs filling up that room. It dawned on her that Victor had just accomplished in a totally different way what he had accomplished during the time in her previous life when Marilyn and her only friends had lost their powers. This was because of the radiation from a bomb going off beneath an island the Frightful Four had left the group to perish on. Victor, as Dr. Doom found out about the unfortunate situation, and while the Fantastic Five were away from the Baxter Building testing out devices to replace their powers, he took that time as a golden opportunity to seize control of the Fantastic Five's home. This time, Marilyn knew that unless one or more of her friends could arrive, her goose was cooked. In a chuckle of triumph, Victor said.  
  
"You know something fair urchin, it seems a little too simple to kill you off like this when you are actually giving up for once. I shall take my time to treasure this by telling you a story you shall find at the least, provocative during the last minutes of your eternal life."  
  
While saying that, shadows formed around Marilyn's arms, and attached her to the projection room's walls. She struggled to break free of these intangible chains and shackles through all means possible to her, ice, cold, water, and even light. But not even the strongest of her powers to control electricity could sever Victor's strong chains and shackles of pure darkness. Ignoring the girl's struggling, Victor progressed into telling Marilyn what was more than a story, but also a lesson in history.  



	13. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Tw...

Chapter Twelve  
  
The image of Victor faded away on the projection screen, and revealed what was an all too familiar location to Marilyn, Fantastica.  
  
"You recognize this place? You should, for it is of course your home. As difficult as you may find it to believe, this used to be my home too."  
  
Marilyn was speechless for a moment, then spoke.  
  
"I, I don't believe you Victor."  
  
"YOU BETTER BELIEVE ME. I have not even told my story yet. PLEASE, NOT ANOTHER WORD!"  
  
Marilyn said no more as Victor continued.  
  
"In the beginning, when the Earth and universe was born, the Creator wanted to have beings who would protect and represent his masterpieces such as the elements, time, and space, along with the natives of Earth. Well, he decided to create five more masterpieces, or our kind, the Fantastics. As I am sure you already know, Benjamin was created as the soldier of the earth, spring, dawn, and Venus. Johnny was formed as the soldier of fire, summer, daytime, and Mars. Susan was conjured as the soldier of air, autumn, dusk, and Venus too. Cursed Reed was concocted as the soldier of water along with ice, winter, night, and Uranus and Neptune. But instead of you being the fifth Fantastic, pathetic Marilyn, it was I; the great Victor was created as the fifth one. Reed and I were created as twin brothers, so each of us represented the same aspects, but in different ways. Reed symbolized the time of night that took place at the very beginning of the day to sunrise, along with the time of winter that lasted from the start of a new Earth year to the beginning of spring. As you probably have figured out in that miserable mind of yours, I represented the time of night that began at sundown and ended when the moon reached its apex, along with the time of winter from the very beginning to the end of the Earth year."  
  
As Victor weaved that tale, the projection screen showed Marilyn's friends and Victor's creation. It shocked Marilyn to finally know that this cruel creature that held her captive was in a way her uncle.  
  
"Oh, in the beginning, life was fine in Fantastica. All five of us got along... oh who am I kidding? I HATED LIFE THERE!!!!"  
  
Victor roared in such a way, Marilyn felt like the room was going to cave in.  
  
"Anyway. Your father, your CURSED FATHER was soooo perfect in everything he did and said! So perfect, he felt he had to teach me how to do everything properly!"  
  
Before Marilyn on the projection screen were images of the times her father and Victor were together. All of these times featured Reed trying to aid Victor in some way, only to either be brushed off or ever slapped to the side by Victor. What Marilyn saw appalled her.  
  
"Victor, Father was just trying to help you. He would never scorn one over their intelligence or ability to do certain thing."  
  
"You have it all wrong brat, dead wrong. He was ridiculing me through his so-called aid. Speaking of ridicule, what about Benjamin and Johnny? They had to be the two most immature imbeciles I ever had to deal with!"  
  
"Benjamin and Johnny? Immature? Yes, they can be that sometimes, but overall, they both have good hearts. Whatever the jokes they were doing upon you were, I am sure it was out of good humor." Marilyn said in response to Victor's tirade.  
  
This time, the images on the screen showed Benjamin and Johnny playing various pranks on Victor, and he did appear to be the least bit amused. Victor growled, and said.  
  
"If those were jokes, they better be delighted that they were not reborn as court jesters for me in my past life, for they would have been obliterated from the start."  
  
He snickered over this remark, then went on.  
  
"It finally got to the point where I wanted to be rid of these swines. So, I decided what better way of getting rid of my then and still most hated enemies than through poison. And before you say it is impossible to kill a being of spiritual matter through poison, think again. I was able to go down to my true home, the Underworld, and obtain a special solution that can dissolve spiritual matter in a matter of minutes from an apothecary down there! But then, I had to think about how to fool your darned friends into consuming this substance. Then just like that, I thought of it, food! No creature, living or dead, can resist it! And besides, your shortsighted friends would regard my making a little something special as a huge apology for how I had acted towards them in the past."  
  
Victor let that out in an extremely sardonic voice. So sardonic, it made Marilyn feel sick.  
  
"But alas, I would never carry out my plan of attaining peace, and being rid of the most insolent souls. For one of those souls, your father discovered my precious bottle of solution lying in of all places, behind what was his favorite book at the time in the bookshelf within Fantastica's study!"  
  
What Victor described flickered before the trapped Marilyn on the projection screen.  
  
"So what did he do about it? He of course called upon that cursed Creator, and told him how I was going to poison him, and the rest of the Fantastics. How in Hades did HE KNOW I was going to poison THEM?!"  
  
"Perhaps because you were thinking out loud to yourself, and that bottle of spiritual dissolving solution was the icing on the cake." Marilyn thought to herself, as Victor continued with his sorry tale.  
  
"The Creator along with the so-called Fantastics then banished me to the Underworld. And as far as I know, that was the best thing they did!"  
  
Victor let out a laugh as his banishing appeared on the projection screen, then said.  
  
"After my banishment, the Creator took that cursed Reed aside, and before the other three Fantastics, split him open, and took the part of him that was more feminine and youthful. And thus, you, darned brat, were created to replace me!"  
  
Victor sighed a sigh of anger as he said.  
  
"But instead of what I represented, you were to represent beginnings, while your father would take over the symbolizing of endings. Of course, I do not appreciate being replaced by a MERE GIRL!"  
  
Marilyn knew this was where the "provocative story" ended. There was no telling what Victor was going to do to her. Would he make her suffer for a little more time, or go ahead and annihilate her right there? Whatever he planned to do, Marilyn was praying and hoping for the arrival of her friends before Victor enacted it.  



	14. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Th...

Chapter Thirteen  
  
Suddenly, the projection room seemed to become darker as Victor let out one of his malicious laughs. Marilyn figured that Victor thought that what he was going to do to her was going to be so incredible an ending to her immortal life, that he was not going to say anymore words to her. As the darkness in the room increased, Victor's eyes reached an apex in their glowing the brightest green as he let out.  
  
"PLUTONIAN ECLIPSE!"  
  
What little light was left within the room was totally replaced by darkness, and made Marilyn feel blind and helpless. There was nothing left for her to do, but pray, and hoped her friends would heed her mental cries for help. She knew what Victor was trying to do, overwhelm her spiritual form with the strongest, purest form of dark energy. If it was anything that would immediately wound and dissolve a soul, it was darkness.  
  
"And I thought that disgusting slug was frightening! Father, Benjamin, Johnny, Susan, can one of you please come NOW?"  
  
Victor's laughs and chortles rang throughout the room and building.  
  
"This is more fun than watching the souls in Limbo and Purgatory SUFFER!" He roared.  
  
"DARKNESS RISETH!"  
  
Surges of dark energy flowed through Marilyn like rivers of fire. It was the most painful feeling she had felt ever since her death during the last battle her and her friends fought against the one who was Doom. Like her life flashed before her eyes before her physical form died, her death and its cause repeated itself before her right then.  
  
It was a stormy autumn Friday morning in New York City. The sky was an eerie black, and was not raining a single drop. Cold winds blew about the hustling and bustling Manhattaners as they were making their way to work. Marilyn remembered her and her father watching them along with viewing the sky that morning. Reed found it very odd how the sky possessed such a dark tone.  
  
"It's so strange Mary. The radio along with National Weather Service reports said there was a not a threat of a storm of any sort today, or the rest of the week. Not to mention how the hue of the clouds is the most odd I have ever seen. One could swear it was night."  
  
Mary knew that besides her, Reed could sense it as well, something was not right. During the remainder of the morning, an ominous feeling and attitude took place among not just Reed and Mary, but the rest of the Fantastic Five. There was even a chance to joke around about the situation at one point when Steely Dan's "Black Friday" pulsated out of the radio's speakers in the lab, but Marilyn did not take that opportunity. Suddenly, at noon, an all too familiar voice erupted from the ebony sky.  
  
"DENIZENS OF NEW YORK CITY, THIS IS YOUR FUTURE LORD ADDRESSING YOU!"  
  
The moment Reed and Marilyn heard the voice of Victor Von Doom sounding out from the clouds, they were instantly upon the rooftop of the Baxter Building as were their friends.  
  
"AH YES, IF IT IS NOT REED RICHARDS, AND HIS GROUP OF MOTLEY FOOLS!"  
  
The Fantastic Five had gotten so used to Dr. Doom's cruel words that they normally did not flinch at them. But this time, it was difficult for they not only had a good idea of where Doom was, but the very fact that they were amplified for the entire city to hear. Right there, it was reveal who, or actually what he was. In the middle of the Manhattan skyline, two colossal green pupil-less eyes stared back at the five heroes.  
  
"AS YOU CAN SEE RICHARDS, I AM NOT IN A MERE, PUNY PHYSICAL FORM. BUT INSTEAD, I HAVE BECOME ONE WITH THE HEAVENS!"  
  
"Im...impossible!" Reed tried to say without fear, but slightly flinched.  
  
"NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DOOM. ADMIT IT RICHARDS, YOU ARE AFRAID, AS YOU SHOULD BE OF DOOM."  
  
Like Doom's voice, thunder crackled from the sky, and flashes of green lightening had begun to streak across the horizon. In the streets below, people were running amuck, screaming, as if the end of the world had arrived. Almost immediately without orders, policemen began to evacuate the natives of New York City.  
  
"I SHALL GIVE YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC FRIENDS TWELVE HOURS TO LIVE OUT THE REST OF YOUR LIVES RICHARDS. BUT COME MIDNIGHT, IT WILL BE TIME FOR ALL OF YOU TO JOIN THE CHOIR INVISIBLE!"  
  
"How many times have I told you, we cannot sing Doom!" Marilyn said as a way of teasing Doom about something he had said so much, it had practically become a cliche. Suddenly, a bolt of green lightening struck where Marilyn had been standing a second ago.  
  
"I WOULD WATCH WHAT I SAID URCHIN. YOU DO NOT WANT TO DISPLEASE THE LORD." Doom said, with a couple of snickers in between.  
  
The Fantastic Five marched back into the Baxter Building, and into a huge meeting room, where they devised how they were going to tackle Doom in his then new form.  
  
"I would love to know how he got like that! Do you guys realize that this could be our final battle with tin face?" Johnny said in disbelief.  
  
"You do not have to remind us lad. While I myself would like to know how Doom obtained his new power. We need to use this time to ponder over more important things, like how are we to defeat Doom if we can." Reed sternly countered.  
  
"Father, didn't you tell me that new device we were working on earlier was supposed to emit some unusual form of energy? So unusual an energy, you said it was potentially the most powerful on the planet?" Mary asked.  
  
"Yes, what about it Mary?"  
  
"If it is the most powerful energy on Earth, we have nothing to lose in using that new weapon against Doom!" She continued with a gleam of hope in her eyes.  
  
"Indeed we don't my child! To the lab, NOW!"  
  
Reed and Mary immediately left the room and the rest of the Fantastic Five in a daze. Without hesitance, Ben, Sue, and Johnny followed their intelligent friends. Outside of the mechanics lab, Sue was able to get Reed's attention.  
  
"Darling, what exactly is this device going to do to Doom?"  
  
Very hurriedly, Reed told Sue.  
  
"If I can get it completed in time Susan, this machine may be our only hope in the defeat of Doom. I can only tell you this, it is the strongest weapon in our arsenal I have ever conceived!"  
  
Sue did not ask any more questions as she witnessed her husband and his stepdaughter enter the mechanics lab, and abruptly shut the door behind them. For a painstaking nine hours, the siblings and their best friend stood awaiting the completion of this intensely dynamic weapon Reed and Mary were trying to complete before Doom began his mass destruction of New York City. Ben, Sue, and Johnny tried their best to sit down to dinner, but it was hard with the view of the opaque skyline before them outside their window. The adjoining laughter making itself audible from the sky was not yielding either. At eleven o'clock that night, Reed and Mary emerged from the lab with what appeared to be one of the most complicated pieces of weaponry their friends had ever laid their eyes upon on a metal rolling cart. Amazingly, they did not say a word, and Ben walked over to the weapon, and picked it up with ease. The five friends headed to the rooftop, with forty-five minutes left before Doom's promised end of their lives. As soon as they were on the Baxter Building's roof, Ben place the apparatus in the center, where Reed and Mary got to work on setting it controls. The other three members watched as their two smartest members put every switch on maximum. They were not the only ones curious...  
  
"WHAT IS THIS? A WEAPON TO BE USED AGAINST ME?"  
  
The Fantastic Five ignored Doom as Reed and Mary made last minute adjustments.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO I, LORD DOOM!"  
  
Once again, silence followed the thunderous words. The flashes of lightening reached their brightest point, showing Doom's apparent anger at his sworn enemies.  
  
"FORGET MIDNIGHT, THE AGE OF DOOM SHALL BEGIN NOW!!!!"  
  
With those words, the lightening and wind reached their highest intensity. And like tiny trees before a hurricane, the building surrounding the Baxter Building became obliterated.  
  
"DOOM, YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN OUR LORD, AND WILL NEVER BE OUR LORD!" Reed hollered towards the raging storm that was Doom as he flipped on the weapon's switch.  
  
As fast as Doom unleashed the full brunt of his powers, a brilliant white beam seeped out from the machine towards Doom. Growls of frustration and pain followed.  
  
"WHEN WILL YOU FOOLS LEARN THAT THE LIGHT SHALL NOT LAST FOREVER?! DARKNESS WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL!! DARKNESS RISETH!!!!"  
  
An energy the Fantastic Five could not see, but could hear the effects of started taking action. Windows and concrete shattered around, causing debris to fall upon and fly over the Baxter Building. Allowing her stepfather to work the weapon, Mary shielded him and her friends with help of her powers of plasticity. She made enough room for the weapon's plasma to do its work against Doom. In order to aid that plasma, Sue and Johnny bravely left the protection of the shielding Mary. Johnny flamed on, and soared up into the starless, lightening engulfed sky, and let out a nova blast. Afflicting pain upon Doom, the nova blast was also the first light the Manhattaners had seen that day. They watched the intense battle with mixed feelings of fear, excitement, and sorrow. Was this Armageddon, the end of the world as everyone knew? Who was going to win this battle? The Fantastic Five, or the evil entity who practically had control then and there? These questions along with many others lingered in the New Yorkers' minds, as they helplessly beheld what was the most epic fight in their five beloved heroes' lives. Right after Johnny let out his nova blast, a hurricane force wind blew him into the broken window of a skyscraper, nearly cutting him up. Johnny was immediately killed. Reacting to this, his sister, Sue mentally used to her powers to throw the largest invisible force field spikes she had ever thrown at Doom. Automatically, the winds shifted direction, sending spikes back and through Sue. Despite the deaths of his wife and her brother, Reed did not move an inch from the weapon he and his stepdaughter had spent the majority of their final hours of their lives to construct. Like Reed, Doom would not give up either. The intense wind and lightening their destruction and attempts at killing off Ben, with whom they succeeded; along with Reed and Mary, who they could not eliminate...  
  
At that point, the memories were beginning to fade in young Marilyn's mind. She vaguely recalled how Doom and his dark powers finally got to her and her father. But somehow, they along with the Creator were able to banish Victor. Marilyn tried to think back more on this, but it was hard to concentrate as she was also fending off the malignant energy trying to eat away at her. Once again, Marilyn had a memory of words her father had said that fateful day she lost her physical form.  
  
"You do not have to remind us lad. While I myself would like to know how Doom obtained his new power. We need to use this time to ponder over more important things, like how are we to defeat Doom if we can."  
  
Except, Marilyn replaced "Doom obtained his new power" with "we defeated Victor that day", and "like are we to defeat Doom if we can" with "will my friends EVER come?". And that was the exact thought that remained in Marilyn's mind as kept at praying for her friends' arrival on the Earthly plane.  



	15. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Fo...

Chapter Fourteen  
  
As Victor's cruel power surged through Marilyn, she felt the end was near. Tears leaked out of her eyes as uncontrollably as Doom's laughter and comments.  
  
"And your dear Father thought this would aid you in becoming stronger! Hah! Look who is becoming stronger, none other than I, Victor!"  
  
"Strength is like power Victor, it is nothing without a control!"   
  
A voice suddenly sounded from the intercom's speakers. The room took on a blue hue, erasing out all of the darkness that had surrounded and was sapping the energy out of Marilyn a minute ago. The light also severed the chains and shackles made out of dark matter that had Marilyn bound to a wall in the Projection Room.  
  
"Father! It's about time you arrived!" Marilyn shouted, as she tried to regain her stamina.  
  
"Now is not the time to even greet each other my child, escape while you can! I'll try to hold Victor off!"  
  
"Yes Father!"  
  
Marilyn obeyed her father's order as she made a run for it out of the Projection Room. Once she was in the corridor, she teleported herself out of the building, and onto the street below, where her three friends waited. Following the arrival of the youngest of their kind, the three elder Fantastics greeted her with hugs and welcomes.  
  
"You have me to thank for saving you Marilyn. These two were hardly any help in keeping watch." Susan said as she turned to look at Benjamin and Johnny with a glare in her eyes.  
  
"Susan, it is not the time to argue. It is the time to be thankful that I am still here with all of you, and not in obscurity!" Marilyn responded.  
  
"Man, that Victor gave ya one helluva time didn't he?" Benjamin asked.  
  
"Benjamin! Watch your mouth! You know how the creator is about such language!" retorted Marilyn.  
  
"Oh... Sorry kid. Being back in tha Big Apple kinda brings back memories of my being in the Yancy Street Gang and all."  
  
"I understand Benjamin. Being back in the Baxter Building has brought back quite a few memories."  
  
The four Fantastics stared at the Baxter Building, where occasional flashes of blue and green light shown from the windows, along with explosions making themselves audible.  
  
"So we finally meet again Reed, after over fifty years." Victor snarled.  
  
"Do you think I have been looking forward to this too, dear brother? Well, I have not."  
  
Reed replied as a blue wave of energy made its path through the wires within the Baxter Building's interior to where Victor was. Victor combated that wave with one of his own dark power. This fight, one of many between Reed and Victor in their immortal lives was by far the oddest they had ever fought. Both men were not in their humanoid forms, but instead were beings of pure energy within a part of the Baxter Building. Every time each man attacked one another, a mechanical device or electrical appliance would explode due to overwhelming flows of power.  
  
"You know Victor, all of us were given a chance at a physical life to take a break from this needless fighting. But being the unnecessary revenge hungry fool you are, you had that chance away from me, my daughter, and my friends!" Reed calmly requited.  
  
"I do not think of this as revenge brother, but instead, I think of it as payback!"  
  
"Why? We never did anything to you in Fantastica, or on this plane! You are fooling yourself Victor!"  
  
"I am not the fool here Reed, YOU are the FOOL!" Victor hollered as a tremendous surge of dark energy cruised through his part of the skyscraper and into Reed's.  
  
Astoundingly, this fight only awoke a few of the tenants living in the residential area below where the Fantastic Five had once resided. The tenants that were awakened of course called upon Mr. Collins to see what was going on. As the crank of a man made his way up the stairs to the door that opened to what had been the heroes' living room, he grumbled to himself.  
  
"Dang those kids who somehow get up there and have their frat parties, slumber parties, or whatever mess they are holding! Kids these days... SHEESH!"  
  
As he got closer, Mr. Collins could hear the loud crackles of energy, and machines self-destructing. He edged his way to the door, so he could be able to enter in such a way, Mr. Collins would sneak in, and scare whoever it was out of what they were doing. Quickly, yet stealthily, Mr. Collins made his entrance!  
  
"Alright all of you! Cut it out with the Laser-Tag, or whatever that crap is called right NOW!"  
  
Victor and Reed stopped battling each other for a minute.  
  
"You dare call my power a TOY?" Victor angrily yelled at Mr. Collins through an intercom as dark energy flowed through the room towards Mr. Collins. That energy was cancelled out by a blue light as Reed exclaimed.  
  
"Get out of here Mr. Collins, NOW!"  
  
"Oh my my my... GHOSTS!" Mr. Collins screeched as he quickly turned around, and ran down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him. On the third flight of stairs, Mr. Collins slipped, and rolled straight into a wall, causing a bruise on his head. As painful and annoying as it was, Mr. Collins ignored the bruise, and kept making his way to the apartment he resided in.  
  
"What am I to tell the residents that complained? This place is haunted? There is no way on Earth they would believe me. Should I tell the police? No, there is no way they will believe me either!"  
  
The rest of that night, Mr. Collins remained in a state of almost having a nervous breakdown.  
  
On the street below, the Fantastics' eyes remained upon the building and the fight taking place within it. One of the beings was not satisfied with remaining with her friends though.  
  
"Father... He needs my help. Victor and him are too evenly matched, and Father is beginning to get weaker. I can sense it..."  
  
Marilyn got ready to teleport herself back into the building, when Benjamin firmly but gingerly grasped her.  
  
"Kid, you still sound too weak to help your old man take on Victor. Besides, I'm sure he's handling him fine on his own."  
  
"No he is not Benjamin! Let go of me! Father needs my help!"  
  
Marilyn struggled to break free of Benjamin's tight grip. Johnny and Susan tried their best to coax her out of what she desired to do.  
  
"Marilyn, listen to Benjamin, he is right, you are still too weak!" Johnny reasoned.  
  
"Please do not be stubborn Marilyn!" Susan added.  
  
"I will show all of you just how "weak" I am. Sorry to do this to you Benjamin, but I MUST AID FATHER!"  
  
An extreme cold radiated from Marilyn's body, causing Benjamin to drop her.  
  
"Yeowtch! Kid I think you just gave me frostbite!"  
  
Marilyn did not even hear Benjamin's remark, for she had disappeared, and transported herself back into the Baxter Building.  
  
"After what she went through with Victor, I cannot believe she did that." Johnny uttered.  
  
"It is like I said before Johnny, Reed and Marilyn are two peas in a pod because they are practically two halves of one soul. If one is in trouble, the other is going to want to help it."  
  
The three Fantastics sighed as they wished for the outcome of the fight went their friends' way.  
  
To her father's dismay, Marilyn reappeared in the Baxter Building's living room.  
  
"Marilyn, my child, I told you to wait outside! I am having an arduous time holding back Victor!"  
  
"I know Father, that is why I came back in."  
  
"Marilyn, I do not know what you have in mind, but how can the two of us defeat Victor?"  
  
"Have you forgotten our other ability Father? Here is a hint, I derived from your soul."  
  
"How do you know about that?"  
  
"I will explain later Father, but the idea came to me outside. In a way, Victor helped me with it."  
  
"Well, what is this idea?"  
  
"If we merge Father, we might be able to create an immense blizzard, or wave!"  
  
Reed gave Marilyn's idea thought for a second, as Victor stopped his awesome display of power, and reverted to humanoid form.  
  
"Have you given up Reed?" He slimily asked.  
  
Reed and Marilyn looked at each other, and winked, as they began to hold each other's hands, and knew that right then was their crowning moment.  
  
"Hardly Victor." Reed chortled, and he and Marilyn proceeded to cry out in unison.  
  
"NEPTUNIAN SUBMERSE!"  
  
Victor could not believe the sight he beheld, for Reed and Marilyn's spiritual selves had collided to form the most humongeous tidal wave he had ever witnessed, and there was no escape. The wave bathed Victor in iciest water he had ever felt in both his Earthly and eternal lives. When Reed and Marilyn transformed back into their humanoid forms, a shivering, cursing Victor sat in front of them.  
  
"You want to have the honors Marilyn?"  
  
"Indeed I do Father." She replied.  
  
Marilyn looked at Victor in the eyes, and let out.  
  
"THAT, Victor, was ONLY the TIP OF THE ICEBURG!"  
  
And Marilyn gently placed her right hand on the floor when the puddle surrounding Victor began, and yelled.  
  
"URANIAN SHOCK!"  
  
The most deadly combination of Marilyn's powers did their thing, as Victor went from freezing, to feeling he was being burnt to a crisp. Besides that feeling, Victor received another justly deserved reward for his action, he was banished once again to the Underworld for unknown reasons other than the fact that he was in so much pain, he needed to retreat.  
  
Reed and Marilyn looked at each other then at where Victor had once stood. The speechlessness they shared was a delighted and relieved one. Finally, Marilyn spoke up.  
  
"Tell me something Father, can I return to Fantastica now that Victor has been banished once again?"  
  
Reed did not respond. He brooded quietly for a minute, then said.  
  
"Marilyn, my child, now that Victor is gone, the Earth plane is now safer for you to remain on for the five Earth years you must stay on it. Do not worry Marilyn, we will be watching and visiting you as always."  
  
Reed paused as he noticed the sun rising.  
  
"If it comes to the point where you really miss me, I am sure that if you and I concentrate enough, we can meet and see each other in the Dreamworld during the hours you and I slumber."  
  
He kissed Marilyn on the forehead, and she returned that kiss to his cheek. Then, Reed patted her head, and said.  
  
"If it is any consolation, I miss you quite a bit too my child. I will see you sometime, hopefully in the near future. Until then Marilyn, farewell."  
  
Trying to hold back her disappointment over not being able to go back to her home yet, Marilyn said.  
  
"I love you Father, and farewell!"  
  
With those words said, Reed disappeared in a blue flash.  



	16. Marilyn of the Fantastics I - Chapter Fi...

Chapter Fifteen  
  
Marilyn got ready to lie down on the couch in the living room, and embark on her daily journey through the Dreamworld, when she suddenly heard voices at a door.  
  
"Now I tell you Jenkins, I experienced a haunting in this very room last night!"  
  
"Oh no! That's Mr. Collins! I better hide!" Marilyn thought, as she quickly got within a closet for a hiding place.  
  
"Sir, are you sure you did not have a nightmare last night, or were just imagining things?" A teenage boy asked skeptically as he and Mr. Collins entered the room.  
  
"I swear I was not dreaming! I crept in here very fast, and said to cut it out with the toys or something like that. And there were these weird lights. But the creepiest thing of all was this voice that said to me "How dare you call my power a toy!" or something similar. Then there was another voice telling me to get out!"  
  
Jenkins stood there thinking while Mr. Collins looked as if he was going to have a spasm.  
  
"Well, WELL?! Is that proof enough of there being ghosts here?"  
  
"Sir, as a future paranormal researcher, I would have to say this does not strike one bit as being a haunted place."  
  
"You want PROOF of THIS BEING A HAUNTED PLACE? I'LL GIVE YOU PROOF! Come over here, I saw one of the spirits dismantle a lamp with their light!"  
  
Mr. Collins ran over to where a broken lamp had stood, but an unblemished one had taken its place. Suddenly, Mr. Collins got a sickening realization.  
  
"Waitaminute, this whole place was in shambles last night, now it's back to normal! If that's not proof enough of something weird going on around here, I don't know what is!"  
  
Jenkins rolled his eyes, and said to Mr. Collins.  
  
"Uh, yeah right. Mr. Collins, take my advice, you need some sleep. The only ones I could think of haunting this place are the Fantastic Five. And as far as all paranormal researchers know, they are resting in peace, and have been doing so for over fifty years! Now I don't know if it's because they found the funeral the city gave them decent, or have just been overall satisfied with the good they had done all of their lives. But whatever it is, they certainly are not making a peep, and don't appear to be doing so anytime soon. Good day Mr. Collins."  
  
And the boy immediately turned around, and made his way down the stairs, with Mr. Collins following behind.  
  
"But you gotta believe me, you just gotta!"  
  
Marilyn slowly and quietly left the closet, and returned to the couch.  
  
"That ceremony they held where they burned our remains and threw the ashes into the Hudson River was a decent funeral? I believe they were better off just letting our physical forms go through their natural processes on the top of this building."  
  
Marilyn murmured to herself as she ventured off into the Dreamworld.   
  



End file.
